Bear Scurries around Wyoming City, Falls Asleep, Gets Caught

After leading wildlife officials on a daylong chase through a Wyoming city, an exhausted young black bear fell asleep under a tree.

"He was sleeping under an aspen tree just wiped out from his day's adventures," State Game and Fish spokeswoman Janet Milek told the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper (http://bit.ly/1cl3iaT ).

"He was so sound asleep he didn't move when we used the tranquilizer," she said.

Game wardens captured the bear around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday after authorities tried several times to corner it in Casper. It was initially spotted at 6:30 a.m.

People watched from their back porches as the animal hopped fences, and police blocked off streets to allow wardens to track the animal. At some homes, officers joined residents on their porches and peered through binoculars in search of the bear.

It's not uncommon for young bears to wander through the Wyoming towns of Glenrock of Casper, especially in subdivisions close to Casper Mountain.

Regional wildlife coordinator Justin Binfet says the bear probably came down from Casper Mountain. The bear will be released, wildlife officials said.

"The vast majority of the time, these are yearling bears that the mother forces out on their own," Binfet said.

"In these situations, it's a scared little yearling black bear, and it wound up in an unfamiliar place. It's more scared than anything."